This book traces the lives of the eponymous women, aka NPR’s “founding mothers.” A hybrid four-subject biography plus a recounting of the early days of the National Public Radio, Napoli’s work presents a engaging, well-researched chronology that highlights some truly pioneering women. 

I did not know a whole heap about NPR going into this book, and it did give me a solid sense of its scrappy, humble beginnings. Each woman profiled had an interesting backstory and sincerely admirable drive to be a part of the journalism world. Hailing from largely privileged backgrounds, none had stories of significant adversity apart from their gender. Even still, hearing their family’s histories and particular roles in their development was one of my favorite parts of the book. For example, Did you know Cokie Roberts was the daughter of a Congressman (and later a Congresswoman) and stared down social conventions to marry her Jewish beau, Steve? And Linda hails from New Mexico where her father owned a grocery store? There is a strong sense of matrilineal gratitude. Every woman could point to another woman who blazed the way before them in some way inspiring their ambitions.  

Now, to a few of my gripes. While the subtitle suggests a focus on the founding mothers, the middle third of the book was heavily skewed towards a portrayal of early NPR: the politicking, the leadership, the financial crises. And, while interesting in its own right, these chronicles only vaguely talked about the headlining women. They were present and held power, but were far from the main players. Some of the most interesting coverage of their individual achievements at NPR staff actually came in the epilogue, a structural choice and flummoxed and frustrated me. For instance, Nina Totenberg played a pivotal role in the Anita Hill coverage and revolutionized the way we relate to Congressional proceedings as the general public. But stories of this sort were largely smushed into the last 40 pages. 

Also, there was, in my opinion, not enough air given to the fact that while these four women were fiercely devoted to one another and their network, they did seem to have a clique-like mentality (at least as portrayed by Napoli) and did not fully acknowledge their privileged positions as white women with supportive partners and familial support. 

Finally, three of the four featured women are alive today. I was disappointed that they did not seem to have a significant role in the book’s research. It would have been even more powerful with direct reflections/commentary from Susan, Linda, and Nina.